The surrounding area is covered with snow, but there are hundreds of acres of square gardens in front of us, and there is basically no snow.

Here is one of the important targets that Xiao Ding wants to get in his attack on Yanzhou this time, Salt Lake.

This is a generous gift from nature to mankind. All humans have to do is dig it out and perform some simple processing to turn it into copper coins, grain, cloth, medicine, etc.

This natural salt lake is not big. There are hundreds of thatched cottages in the surrounding area, which are the residences of salt workers. A little further away, there are several houses made of rammed earth, which were the original residences of officials.

Already.

Of course, these officials are no longer officials. They have fallen from high-level managers to the same level as the salt workers they managed before.

But if we really talk about the real situation, these people are probably even worse off.

Those who were bullied by them in the past can now be bullied back to their heart's content, and they have no other choice but to grit their teeth and bear it.

The reincarnation of heaven brings unfavorable retribution.

"Commander, the time is too short, this is the first workshop we built." A steward in green bowed slightly and said to Xiao Ding beside him. "Although this salt lake is not large in area and does not produce much, it is the best among all salt lakes.

Among them, the salt produced is of the best quality."

Xiao Ding nodded and said: "Thank you for your hard work, everyone. But I don't understand why my second brother wants you to go to such trouble to build a new workshop to refine salt. Can't we just continue to use the previous ones?"

The steward laughed and said, "Commander, does the salt you ate before taste the same?"

Xiao Ding frowned and said: "It's not the same. In addition to salty, some are bitter and some are astringent. Except for snowflake salt, there are other flavors in them."

The steward said with admiration: "It is only for people like you, the commander, who have a noble status, but never forget to share the joys and sorrows with those below you, that you can distinguish different types of salt."

Xiao Ding smiled. He had always been like this, so he didn't think there was anything surprising.

"These bitter and astringent things are actually impurities in the salt. Erlang said they are harmful to people, so we have to find a way to separate all the impurities in the salt," the steward said.

Xiao Ding stopped and said hesitantly: "According to what you said, wouldn't it all turn into snowflake salt? How many people can afford to eat it?"

A pound of ordinary salt costs only more than ten yuan. This thing affects the nerves of thousands of households. A slight increase in price is a big deal. But a pound of snowflake salt can be judged on the basis of price, except for officials and wealthy people.

Ordinary people simply cannot afford it.

"The commander is very worried." The steward said: "So the salt we produce in the future will also be divided into grades. The average salt is only about ten yuan, but it is definitely much better than the salt on the market. At least these salts are bitter.

This is the first workshop we are building, and it is also responsible for studying how to improve the purity of salt, increase salt production, and reduce the cost of salt. There will be more than a dozen more to come.

A house will be built!"

"These salt lakes are our next source of wealth and must be managed well." Xiao Ding warned. Now he has more than 2,000 iron kites and 3,000 foot soldiers under his command. All the military expenditures needed must come from here.

Head out?

"Don't worry, Commander." The steward was confident and led Xiao Ding to a rammed earth room. Inside, straw bags were stacked into square stacks. The steward pulled out a dagger from his boot.

, plunged it in with a chirping sound, and then pulled it out, a lot of snow-like things came out from the blade.

Xiao Ding reached out and dipped a little bit into his mouth, tasted it briefly, and said in surprise: "Snowflake salt?"

The steward nodded.

"It's such a small salt lake now, and there is only one workshop that can work normally, but we can also produce hundreds of kilograms of snow salt like this every day." The manager smiled and said: "Commander, wait until the snow salt we have here is put into the market.

, the salt merchants in places like Yan'an Prefecture and Jingzhao Prefecture are all dumbfounded. Either they come to us to purchase goods, or they are waiting to be squeezed out by us."

"Our cost?" Xiao Ding asked.

"Now there is only one workshop and less than ten stoves. The total cost is about fifty cents." The steward said: "With the completion of the reconstruction of the workshop, the cost will drop significantly."

"How much did it sell for?"

"Five hundred cents!" The steward grinned and laughed silently. "With ten times the huge profit, we also left double the profit for the retail merchants. Of course, if we get more goods, we can also lower the price.

However, although this kind of salt can make a lot of money, its sales volume is still limited. The real profit maker is ordinary salt, but even with that kind of salt, we can still make five or six times the profit."

Xiao Ding took a deep breath.

“How much money can I make every month?”

"We don't know yet, but we have a rough estimate. If everything goes well, there will be a net profit of about 10,000 guan per month in the first three months, and then it will increase every month." The steward said: "When all the workshops are constructed,

If it is completed and sales are fully opened, there will be about 50,000 yuan per month. This is only for the Hengshan area, Ganning and the entire Shaanxi Road."

"I understand!" Xiao Ding waved his fist vigorously. With fifty thousand dollars a month, the problems he was worried about would no longer be a problem.

"Actually, if something like salt can be sold to Qingtang, the Western Regions and other places, the profit will be higher." The manager smiled.

"This is something that will happen in the future." Xiao Ding thought of Xiao Cheng's vision for the future and couldn't help but laugh. These stewards seemed to have heard a lot of the big cakes he described from his second brother, one by one.

They are all full of longing for the future.

First the caravan enters, then the army enters, then the government enters, and finally the culture enters. The completion of these four steps basically completes the complete occupation of a place.

This is the four steps of occupying a place that Xiao Cheng told him.

But this is still too far away for Xiao Ding, and now he still wants to survive.

Li Xuhui counterattacked.

Ma Xing will try his best to take away the fruits of his victory.

Li Xu is an enemy and is easy to deal with. He only has steel swords, spears and crossbows.

But the pressure from Ma Xing is very troublesome.

In the past, this would not have been a problem at all for Xiao Ding.

But now, these have become big problems.

He patted the steward on the shoulder: "I'll leave the salt matter to you. Be more tolerant towards the salt workers. A few days ago, in order to capture Yanzhou City as quickly as possible, we were extremely harsh on them. They died.

Many people need to be comforted and find ways to eliminate this hatred."

"Commander, don't worry. Erlang has already made plans for these things. There is a thick booklet!" the steward said with a smile.

Xiao Ding spread his hands: "It seems that there is nothing that my Erlang has not thought of. Anyway, he does think about these things much more carefully than I do. Just do as he says."

After hearing the next monthly income here, Xiao Ding finally felt at ease. At least he didn't have to worry about the military expenses for the next few months and the expenses of the upcoming war.

Yanzhou is a good place. After occupying the treasury and other places, Guangrui Army made a fortune.

Guang Rui's army broke through Yanzhou City so fast that Zuo Qiuming didn't have time to destroy all these things, so Xiao Ding took advantage of them all.

After leaving the Salt Lake, Xiao Ding galloped all the way, and before dark, he finally saw a military camp in front of him.

This place is about fifty miles away from Yanzhou City, and the army stationed here is more than 2,000 iron kites commanded by Xin Jian.

Xin Jian went out of the camp in person and took Xiao Ding into the camp.

Looking at the furnishings and arrangements in the camp all the way, Xiao Ding felt relieved. Now the officers in the entire Iron Harrier are half and half from Guangrui Army veterans and half from Dangxiang, but the soldiers are basically all from Dangxiang.

These soldiers were very honest when they were at Shentangbao, but Xiao Ding has always been worried about whether these people can maintain the style and discipline that a soldier should have during the war. Now it seems that Xin Jian is managing them well.

In the eyes of the imperial court, the Tibetan soldiers were a chaotic group, something that wasted away the enemy's arrows and other weapons in war, and they were not regarded as companions at all.

In the past, Xiao Ding also thought that the Tibetan soldiers were difficult to manage, but now it seems that it is not the same thing. Whether it is difficult to manage depends on how to manage them, and of course it also depends on whether the person in charge can truly regard these people as his comrades-in-arms and companions.

.

If you want to receive, how can you not give?

"Commander!" Xin Jian welcomed Xiao Ding into his tent. Xin Jian was a little surprised. He didn't understand why Xiao Ding left Yanzhou City and appeared here. "For several days, the scouts have been placed fifty miles away.

No trace of the enemy has been found yet."

"The later the enemy appears, the greater the difficulties we will encounter. We must not let down our guard!" Xiao Ding sat by the fire pond and put his almost frozen hands on the fire to bake: "How is the morale of the army?

"

“The morale is high!”

"There are wars, but if you want to make a fortune, you have to win them. And if you want to win, you must first have strict military discipline." Xiao Ding said: "Even in this kind of weather and this kind of moment, when it's time to train troops,

You must also practice. Soldiers must never be allowed to be idle. If they are idle, things will easily happen."

"I understand, Commander, I will definitely find something for them to do next." Xin Jian was horrified, but he couldn't learn these things when he was in Bianliang.
Chapter completed!